Michigan AG Announces Felony Charges Following Counterfeit Fragrance Bust

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced felony charges Thursday against four Michigan men, following an investigation into alleged counterfeit fragrances being sold via Walmart and Amazon online marketplaces.

The AG alleged the men sold products masquerading as established luxury perfume and cologne brands, such as Victoria’s Secret, Chanel, Abercrombie & Fitch, L'Oréal, Giorgio Armani, Lancôme, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Yves Saint Laurent.

The investigation was conducted by the AG’s FORCE (Focused Organized Retail Crime Enforcement) team, a task force focused on organized retail crime in the state. The task force includes personnel from the Attorney General’s office that work with Michigan State Police on investigations, and the unit also partners with the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service.

Nessel said the FORCE team was contacted by Walmart Global Security in October 2023 to assist with investigating suspected counterfeit cologne and perfume merchants. She said this stage of the investigation was spurred by intellectual property complaints filed by legitimate cologne and perfume brand manufacturers. Search warrants were subsequently executed in December 2023 in Port Huron targeting the operation of one of the alleged sellers, Kyle McIntyre, leading to the seizure of over 300 boxes of counterfeit perfumes and colognes.

The investigation lead the FORCE team to McIntyre’s supplier, and further search warrants were executed, including a warehouse of Sterling Heights resident Shuba Barua. Nessel says “one of the largest counterfeit product seizures in the history of the state of Michigan” was conducted, with over 100,000 boxes of counterfeit merchandise seized.

Two additional online sellers connected to McIntyre and Barua were implicated in the investigation, and the following charges have now been announced:

Kyle McIntyre has been charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, six counts of possession of counterfeit goods, and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.

Shuba Barua, Ahasan Khan, and Bilal Ahmed are each charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, 13 counts of possession of counterfeit goods, and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.

AG Nessel spoke about potential dangers of this type of counterfeit merchandise, such as the unverified sourcing of the product, unknown safety standards in manufacturing, and unknown chemical ingredients.

Nessel says the men are expected to be arraigned in the 41A District Court in Sterling Heights in the coming days.

Watch video of Nessel speaking about the case here: